Like with all the recent releases, Big League didn’t come to any of my Targets on the day it was supposed to. But like some other things I tried out lately, I ended up with Big League because of the urge to get cards in general. It’s wasn’t necessarily because I wanted Big League. I figured it was worth a try because of the price.
This product should be up my alley. First of all it’s a little bit of a throwback style, but not a throwback… it’s new. It would seem to be a good set for TTMs and if you are a regular reader you know that’s my thang. The colors are all in line with team colors on each card so that ticks another box. I like the set. I really do, but that said, it’s also not really floating my boat for some reason. The weight of the cards is off – they are just plain flimsy. And it’s a set I don’t need even though the price is right.
I know that Big League is replacing BUNT and I thought I heard on the tweeters that this was potentially replacing the Opening Day too. I think that is a winning idea. Opening Day should be a cheaper option and I always hated that Opening Day was the exact same set as the flagship set. I hated that when it was Upper Deck First Edition too.
2018 Topps Big League
If you’ve read other blaster opening’s I’ve had (and the earlier paragraphs) you know that I think anything with team colors in them is great. This runs on those lines and I love it. The border is nice and not just a straight up rectangle. The pictures are pretty standard, but overall fine for the product. There isn’t really too much from a design perspective to pick on.
The card backs are VERY old school and I love them for it. I wish I thought to take a picture.
Big League “Old Timers”
I’m not always a big fan of retired players in current sets. Sometimes they work, like A&G and Gypsy Queen, but others are too modern of a look for them to pull it off well. In this case I don’t mind it much because of the throwback nature of the cards. But I’ll also say that if this ends up being more like what Opening Day is, I don’t want them in there.
I feel like if you have a cheaper offering you are probably gearing it toward younger collectors. In my experience, my friends with kids who I’ve helped get into cards are a lot more interested in current players. They watch the players every day and they no longer root for their home town teams or players exclusively because they can see any game at any time. So they want to see that Javy Baez or Mike Trout card. Yes, its nice they get a sense of the history of baseball, but I think there are other avenues for that.
Going to the Park
These are some of the things I like about card sets like this one and Opening Day. I like the mascot cards and the ballpark cards. These are things I don’t get to go see. In this case I have because I actually went to PNC this summer during an awesome four day baseball road trip to Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cincinnati. But seeing this type of stuff makes me want to go see other ballparks. If my girls were interested in this stuff I would have loved to have taken them along.
Big League Art
I love these insert cards. To me these are the perfect types of inserts for a younger collector. Ministers of Mash and the Players Weekend cards have little mix in of Topps Fire. Then the Star Caricature card seems like an art card, but I’m not sure it is. It has more of a computer effect feel to it. Either way I like them all. I think those Players Weekend cards would look sweet with a TTM autograph on them.
Big League Parallels
Solid parallels. The color (blue) and the gold are pretty standard parallels. The rainbow foul is as well and they are numbered to 100 as you might be able to see in the picture. But I really like the feel of that rainbow foil a lot. I like it better than the rainbow foil from the flagship set actually because I think having the border actually allows you to notice the rainbow foil.
Big League Box Cards
Oh My God! I love this so much. We need more of this. It totally completes the throwback feel on these as I remember finding these on boxes in the 80’s. I never actually bought a whole box, but some friends and I used to try to make deals with the hobby store owner in our town to let us take the boxes. He usually would. But the key was to make sure it was us that got them and not some other kids we knew.
I have no idea if Bryce is the only option or if even green is the only option. But I absolutely love the idea.
Now, to cut the Bryce Harper card out of the box or not. I think that is a yes, but hopefully my cutting skills are a bit better now than they were when I was a kiddo. I can guarantee there are some pretty raggedy wax box cards in my collection. There’s always a dilemma of whether to show the cut line or not. I think not, but you can’t keep chip, chip, chip, chipping away at it. Measure twice cut once hopefully.
To recap…
Love the concept, just not necessarily the concept for me. I think it might be if there was a change in Opening Day and it moved to this. Definitely like the price and the idea behind the design. It checks a lot of the “PRO” side of my list, but just not feeling it completely.